Posted on 03/20/2012 9:36:58 PM PDT by marktwain
A Sanford neighbor of George Zimmerman and fellow neighborhood watch captain in their gated community came to his defense Tuesday, saying that he shot Miami teenager Trayvon Martin after numerous burglaries at The Retreat at Twin Lakes.
Frank Taaffe pointed out the circumstances that he believes led his 28-year-old neighbor to react the way he did on the night of Feb. 26: eight burglaries within 15 months, most done by young black males, he said.
"The stage was already set. It was a perfect storm,” Taaffe said. “I think any time you use a weapon, there are certain anger issues working.”
NBC 6 could not immediately confirm the burglary statistic Taaffe cited in a phone call to Sanford Police Tuesday night.
Martin, 17, picked up Skittles and iced tea from a 7-Eleven that Sunday, then headed back towards his father’s girlfriend's home on a rainy, drizzly night. Martin put on his hoodie and ran to take cover. Zimmerman spotted him, got out of his car and followed him.
In Trayvon Martin's final phone call with his own girlfriend, according to Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump, he could be heard saying “Why are you following me?” and Zimmerman replying “What are you doing around here?”
Their confrontation ended with Martin getting shot in the chest.
“This guy looks like he’s up to no good … he looks black,” Zimmerman told a police dispatcher from his car. His father has said that Zimmerman is Hispanic, grew up in a multiracial family, and is not racist.
Twin Lakes’ population is ethnically mixed. A few residents said there is tension within the gated community.
“I think he had fed-up issues. He was mad as hell and wasn't going to take it anymore,” Taaffe said of Zimmerman.
He insisted, however, that Zimmerman cared about all his neighbors.
"George is a congenial, amiable, admirable person,” he said. "He had a passion and a care for this neighborhood to ensure the safety of everybody here. And, furthermore, George is no Rambo."
Taaffe said that Zimmerman actually was appointed as a watch captain, despite reports that he appointed himself to the post.
He said he believes his neighbor acted in self-defense. That is what Zimmerman told police.
Zimmerman has not been charged, despite growing calls for his arrest.
"It’s really sad that he's already been convicted in the public media and has already been sentenced to the gas chamber,” Taaffe said. “Let's let justice do its job."
At the same time, Martin’s death is “devastating,” he said.
”It's a tragic event – we can’t bring that boy back,” he said. “I wish we could.”
Maybe. maybe.
Thank you for posting this article.
I have been recommending patience since this story first broke.
Eventually all of the facts will come out.
There is no need to rush to condemn Mr. Zimmerman.
“His father has said that Zimmerman is Hispanic, grew up in a multiracial family, and is not racist.”
So, does the black race card trump the Hispanic one? In more and more of this country (and I suspect in Florida), it doesn’t. Hope this brings a lot of publicity to our race issues (all of them).
Please tell me there is more to the story than just a "fear" of burglaries in the area. If that's this guy's defense, he's toast.
There is quite a bit more, which is why he has not been arrested yet.
I think the rule is if a Hispanic person commits a crime, he’s counted as white. If a Hispanic person is the victim of a crime, he’s Hispanic or “a person of color.”
“...fed up, mad as hell and wasn’t going to take it anymore...”
sure sounds like a wannabe Dirty Harry to me. Lock him up. Instead of observing and reporting, he confronted a scared young black guy who up to the point where he fatally crossed paths with Zimmerman was doing absolutely nothing wrong. IMO Zimmerman was the instigator of the confrontation...
The media have apparently decided to obsess over this case. The way they are presenting it, it’s a senseless crime. Whether that is the case may come out sooner or later, but the way emotions are being played on, if Zimmerman is not found guilty, this could be another Rodney King situation.
Eric Holder has had the files for 24 hours now.
Has the shooter been arrested?
It doesn’t matter if he’s had 99 failings, in terms of not catching black criminals.
He should have been following procedure of gathering information only and only acting, if he actually caught the person in the act of doing something.
Its an election year for a very weak DNC leader.
Their focus will be on anything other than Obama.
I see it that way as well.
The emotional play is incredible.
It was only today that I learned that Trayvon was almost 18 and six foot three inches tall.
All the pictures that I have seem make it appear that he was a little boy.
Either he averted a lot of crimes - or he was over-reactive.
Meanwhile, I do not expect this story to get anything like the same national play, even though it represents a more serious, because more frequent, problem.
And of course, the MSM are not running the Zimmerman/Martin story as a man bites dog story, but as representative of deep-rooted, not uncommon evils in our society.
Remember Theodore Briseno?
It has been reported from the beginning that Mr. Zimmerman's defense is that he was attacked by Mr. Martin and shot in self-defense.
That is precisely the rule.
Absolutely. Lock him up based on speculations by someone who wasn't there. Sounds like justice to me!
The key words in your excerpt are “according to Martin family attorney”.
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